


Bright Lines

by Maone



Series: Electric Blue [1]
Category: Rush Hour (1998), Rush Hour (TV 2016), 天將雄師 | Dragon Blade (2015)
Genre: Blood Kink, Ghouls, M/M, Romance, Vampires, people eating people but it's not gory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-01-22 02:42:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12471664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maone/pseuds/Maone
Summary: In a world where we have two Carters and Lees...and also vampires and ghouls. The war is only about to start, but who is the real enemy?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I genuinely did my best to not confuse the hell out of you guys with the names, so Carter and Lee from 1998 will be addressed by their usual surnames while the tv show guys will be addressed by first names. That was mainly decided upon Jon Foo's own statement that his and Justin's Lee and Carter are not supposed to copy the originals - so they will not be addressed as such.
> 
> The vampires in this story are mostly inspired by vampires from Being Human(UK) and Underworld, while ghouls are mostly created from scratch (not claiming they are original, I'm sure their abilities have probably appeared in other instances, but I haven't looked up any, so I'm going with whatever my brain comes up with).
> 
> Some of the outfits used in the story - http://prntscr.com/h0nrm4

„This is weird.“ Carter grumbled, examining the soft cushion of their sofa.“My ass keeps falling through, I don’t see the point of this, there’s no way people can fuck on this.“

It was fall 2016, L.A boomed with life more than Carter ever remembered it. The sun so bright that the place almost looked positive from the dump it usually is. Blame it on the global warming.

The rented penthouse overlooked the city with immense view, that was one thing Carter appreciated from their new employer/kindred/ally, whatever you call it, Elders? The steady flow of income that Carter had now was something he would only dream of, if he remained in his position as a detective. This was the definition of a dream job.

The more luxurious living was something he grew to enjoy much quicker than he thought; well, almost, he always wanted to be rich. However with his new life, so to speak, Carter was forced to abandon the city he loved so much, in order to follow up on various leads during their hunt on ghouls.

Alright, so the job wasn’t as easy as he made it out to be.

Carter glanced at his partner standing by the wall sized window on the other side of the room.

„How’s the view Lee?“ He called over.

Lee stood there with his arms crossed looking very concentrated, but Carter genuinely struggled to take him seriously in that black changshan. Wearing traditional chinese clothes as often as he could, was one way for Lee to cope with being in America long-term. It didn’t look bad on him, not at all, Lee looked good in pretty much anything, it was just a bit odd seeing him in something so out of place.

They were in China for a while, so Carter has seen local casual attire and not even people in Hong Kong really wore something like that, so Carter knew that it was more of a sentimental thing for Lee rather than fashion preference.

They’ve been working together for almost 20 years now, pretty much since the whole _awakening_ thing happened. Honestly, if Carter hasn’t witnessed Lee’s feral form the first time, he wouldn’t have ever noticed that his partner was a vampire. When the accident happened, Carter was really mad at Lee for turning him, but over time he understood that there was not really another option. He wasn’t particularily eager to die in his late twenties.

From what he gathered, him and Lee were amongst the youngest vampires, Lee being turned only ten years prior to him, their human age didn’t mean anything once they turned. They met a 6 year old who was pushing it to 400 years.

She almost beat up Lee when he thought it was an actual kid.

Carter found himself laughing under his breath.

„What’re you laughing at?“ Lee asked, finally turning around. He walked over to his partner, eyes fixed on his smartphone. His english has improved immensely over the years, naturally due to the knowledge Carter so graciously shared with him.

„Nothing,“ Carter grinned, looking up at his partner,“just a good mood.“

Lee raised an eyebrow, but a smile was dancing on his lips.

„Are you that happy to be finally back in your hometown?“

„Of course I am! I can’t believe you managed to convince Lucy to let us have a small vacation.“ Carter beamed. Lee grimaced.

„He’s not going to be happy if he hears you calling him that.“ He said.

Carter snorted. „As if he hasn’t done the same shit himself.“

„He has?“ Lee asked, lifting his eyes off the phone to Carter.

„…At some point in his life! Look, matter of fact is, that he’s way too hard on us, he needs to get laid.“

„Carter, he’s married.“

„I know he’s married, but he ain’t getting _any_. Marital issues, Lee.“

Just then, Lee’s phone vibrated and his partner’s eye went straight to it again. Carter sighed dramatically.

„You’ve been staring at that thing for hours, come stare at me for a bit, at least I won’t ruin your eyesight.“ He said, reaching up to pull at Lee’s hand, trying to drag him on the couch. Lee resisted being pulled around like a sack of potatoes and simply walked around the back of the couch and sat down next to Carter, his partner throwing an arm over his shoulder and pulling him close.

„What do you even got there that’s so much more important than my handsome face?“ Carter wondered, leaning into Lee’s personal space to peek at his phone.

„I just…“ Lee started, sighing heavily, never a good sign in Carter’s experience.

„You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.“ Carter warned.

Lee said nothing, biting his lip. So Carter quickly grabbed for his phone, tearing it from his partner’s hands before he had time to react. He can be fast too.

Upon seeing a very long conversation, Carter groaned.

„Are you kidding me Lee? We’re supposed to be having a vacation here, not take on another ghoul case…“ Carter scrolled over an image and came back to it, grimacing.“One with pretty nasty food habbits on top of it, goddamn…is that a police morgue?“

The picture was pretty self-explanatory, a completely dried out body with only skin and bones left behind. Not something Carter can say he’d seen before, but they’ve been told that in some cases depending on the level of hunger, the ghoul will consume most if not all of its victim. However, he’s never seen a ghoul to walk into a morgue for his dinner, extremely risky with all the cameras and staff always roaming about.

Lee pulled the phone out of his fingers. „The body was brought in only day before that happened, reportedly a suicide. Police hasn’t released any information to the public yet.“ He said.

„Lee, why do you keep dragging us into more jobs? We‘ve been working pretty much nonstop for the past year, don’t you want to spend any quality time together?“ Carter complained.

„Of course I do! But this looks important, Carter. There’s a possibility that the ghoul is a police officer.“ Lee said.

Carter’s eyebrow quirked disbelievingly. „Do you realize how stupid that sounds? That’s like having a wolf guard herd of sheep.“

„Yes, but it also means that he can enter a morgue without raising suspiciousness.“

Carter sighed.

„Come on, Lee-“ He ripped the phone out of Lee’s grip again, tossing it on the chair opposite of them, Lee was about to protest but instead his complaint turned to yelp as he was pulled into his partner’s lap.

„You are starting to make me feel really underappreciated here, babe.“ Carter purred.

„I’m not trying to do that….“ Lee whined, trying to wiggle out of Carter’s grip.

„You are still doing it,“ Carter reached under the soft layer of Lee’s changshan, his hands coming to a rest on his partner’s hips,“do you even know how long has it been since you let me have a _taste_ of you?“ He whispered lewdly in Lee’s ear, nibbling at his earlobe.

He got one of the many delicious sounds of arousal from his partner in response. Pleased with his work, he traced a line with his tongue, down the side of Lee’s throat, scraping the skin with his now exposed fangs.

Before he could bite down, Lee’s hand wrapped around his throat, forcefully pulling him away. Carter looked up, blue eyes glowing with need met with Lee’s own electric blue gaze, a surprisingly lewd look and a flash of fangs is all Carter saw before Lee bit hard into his lower lip, the bloody mess immediately running down his jaw.

Carter blinked.

_Fuck._

He quickly moved in, licking the blood off his jaw before it started dripping. His tongue circled the punctures, before he sucked hard, swallowing that sweet, warm liquid, his hands roaming his partner’s clothed body. Carter pushed Lee down on the couch, hands kneading that exceptional ass like there was no tomorrow, their lips locked in a breathless searing kiss, not a single drop of blood going to waste.

Lee’s hands moved under Carter’s shirt and Carter smiled against his lips. Oh yeah.

Then the doorbell rang and Carter’s whole world fell apart right there and then.

He pulled away from the kiss with a loud smack, a threat on his tongue. „Don’t you dare-„

But before he could finish the sentence, Lee pulled one of his stunts and suddenly Carter was looking at the ceiling while his partner was halfway to the door.

Lee opened the door to a courier holding a flat package.

 **„There better be a corpse on the other side of that door, otherwise I’m going to fucking kill you!“** Carter shouted across the apartment and Lee watched the look of horror wash over the poor delivery boy’s face.

„He’s a just bit emotional, his wife left him.“ Lee smiled politely.

The courier smiled awkwardly and handed Lee the package before rather hastily leaving.

Lee returned to the living room where Carter continued to be livid. Lee sat down on the couch, opening the package and ignoring the furniture flying across the room as Carter continued to rant.

„Every motherfucking time….then people tell me I have anger issues! Anger issues? Who the fuck wouldn’t be angry….and he just walks over there all dandy and shit, fucking traitor, you hear me Lee? **Filthy heartless traitor**.“

„Don’t break the windows, repairs on that are terribly overpriced here.“ Lee commented, examining the documents.

„You are not even listening to me!“ Carter flailed his arms.

Lee laid out the papers on a table in front of him, motioning Carter to sit next to him. „Alright, come here, I’ll give you a handjob.“

„I’m not coming over for less than a blowjob.“

„I need to read those documents, Carter!“ Lee cried out in frustration, finally looking up at Carter.

„Well, I’ll hold them up for you so you can suck me off handsfree,how about that?!“

„Yes, well, I don’t like reading with my mouth full, so no!“

They stared at each other in silence. The stern looks slowly turning to smiles tugging at their lips.

Carter burst out laughing first.

„ _I don’t like reading with my mouth full_ , christ Lee. I can’t believe you just said that. The things that come out of your mouth sometimes.“

„You would know….“ Lee muttered under his breath, smile dancing on his lips.

„Ohohoh, yes, yes I would, babe.“ Carter grinned and finally walked over to sit next to Lee. „So, what’s in those papers?“

„The information on officers from the precint that’s responsible for the morgue. All of them have registered entry to the place and possibly the body during the predicted crime.“ Lee explained, spreading the documentation so each face was visible.

„Want to see something amazing?“ Lee smiled. Carter looked at him in puzzlement. Then Lee pulled out one of the officer’s info and at first, Carter didn’t see anything particularily amazing.

Until he saw the name.

„What the fuck?“ He grabbed the document from Lee’s hands. „Detective James Carter?“ He stared at the picture incredulously.

„That’s not all, look who is listed as his partner.“ Lee pointed at the name beneath it.

„Jonathan Lee…well at least they didn’t steal your full name.“ Carter shrugged.

„He also came from Hong Kong, but not as a chief inspector, just detective. No further background on him besides that.“

Carter clicked his tongue. „Well, don’t know about you, but that’s shady on its own.“

Lee nodded.

„Guess it’s about time we got a good look on our counterparts.“ Carter sighed. Lee’s eyes beamed and Carter turned to look at him. „Don’t think that this means I forgave you for leaving me for some delivery boy at the door.“

Lee rolled his eyes, but leaned in and they shared a quick kiss before getting up.

* * *

 

"So this is your idea of unconspiciousness? We are gonna be some shady ass cops I can tell you already." Carter snorted. Lee glanced at him from his driver's seat.

"Why's that?" He asked curiously.

Carter looked at him in disbelief and tapped at the dashboard of the car. Sparkling new Mitsubishi Lancer in _red_.

"Why? Have you ever seen a cop driving a Lancer?! We should have taken my car..."

"You mean that death on wheels you call a car?Besides, I always drove Lancer even as an officer." Lee chuckled.

"Did you just insult my baby?" Carter glared at him.

"No, I'm just saying that we could've probably bought a house with all that repair money spent on your car." Lee shrugged.

"Still more reliable than half the crap they make these days, just look at them," Carter pointed at the cars passing them,"give them couple hundred miles and they're dead."

„Whatever you say,“ Lee rolled his eyes,“I’m more worried about the ghoul being around police station without getting spotted for so long, this is not normal.“

Carter pulled out his phone and scrolled through the images Lee forwarded.

„Things stopped being normal eighteen years ago, babe….By the way, does Lucy even know that we’re off to another ghoul hunt?“ He asked.

Lee sighed dramatically, but chose to ignore the mockery of the Elder’s name this time.

„No, not yet, but I spoke with Huo An and he said he’ll let him know, they are dealing with another ghoul situation themselves. So, probably too busy to be bothered with us for now„

„Probably for the best that he doesn’t know, nobody nagging us for once.“ Carter grimaced.

„Anyway, the last information I got on our counterparts is that they actually might be investigating the case we’re after.“ Lee said.

„Not surprised, if they got anything else from us besides the names, it would be the urge to stick their nose into everything they shouldn’t. That body at the morgue was completely sucked out, the ghoul that did that had to be really fucking hungry.“

„Yes, I don’t think he feeds like this all the time, seems like he couldn’t get to a body in any other way, so he went to the morgue. If he fed this much regularly, he’d be found much sooner.“

„Well, he fucked up.“ Carter shrugged.

„One way to put it.“

Lee parked his car around the corner and both men headed to the police station. Carter reached in his pocket and pulled out two badges, handing one of them to Lee.

„Here you go, inspector.“

Lee took it with a smirk.

„Thank you, detective.“

* * *

 

They waited in Captain Cole’s office while she went to gather the two detectives. Carter was pacing around the room, while Lee stood with his back pressed against a nearby wall.

„Keep watch.“ Lee said simply. Carter glanced over at his partner and saw his eyes turn to their trademark bright blue.

„Go ahead, Lee.“ Carter said, eyes now fixed on their surroundings outside the room, making sure Lee’s warned if somebody’s coming. He could hear Lee inhale and exhale as he searched for the ghoul’s scent. They were generally able to spot them without having to use their heightened senses, but the building was crowded with over a hundred of people, absolute nightmare for a vampire with sensitive smell.

After a moment, Lee moved away from the wall. Carter turned to him to see that he was back to normal, but his expression didn’t change much. „Nothing?“ Carter asked. Lee shook his head.

„A lot of scents mixing up, but nothing close to scent of a ghoul. I don’t think there’s one present right now.“

„Damn.“ Carter cursed.

Shortly after, Captain Cole walked in, followed by two men, which could Carter and Lee only assume were their counterparts.

„Gentlemen,“ Cole started, pointing at the two detectives,“this is Detective James Carter and Detective Jonathan Lee.“ Then she pointed at the two vampires.“Inspector Hewei and Detective Jackson, they’ve come all the way from Hong Kong to help with the unusual situation at the morgue.“

„You are pretty well informed fellas, we barely started the investigation and the news got already all the way to Hong Kong.“ The short detective said. Carter internally snorted at that. Nosy one, aren’t you.

„You’d be surprised how quickly grim news spread in police force, detective. Your victim is not the first of such mutilation,“ Lee said as he turned to Jonathan,“Hong Kong suffered such attacks on deceased for a long time. We are familiar with the pattern.“

„Odd, Detective Lee never mentioned any such cases from Hong Kong.“ Captain Cole turned to Jonathan in a surprise.

Jonathan opened his mouth to reply, but Lee was quicker.

„As widespread as it was, the investigation was kept rather secret. As soon as there was a team assigned to deal with it, the cases were shared only between our informants and us.“ He said. Jonathan stared at him intently. Carter didn’t miss it either. They shared a quick glance at each other. _He knows something._

„I see, well I hope you can do something about our situation, I’d hate to have mutilated deceased laying on the street as some common occurence, no offense.“ Captain Cole said.

„I’m sure we can help each other out to end this as quick as possible.“ Carter added with a smile.

James looked from one man to another and shrugged.

„Alright, well, we were about to head out to interview one of our suspects, wanna come?“

Carter and Lee shared a look.

„You have a suspect already?“ Carter inquired.

„Of course we do, Lee thinks it’s a solid lead. Right Lee?“ James grinned, turning to his partner.

Jonathan rolled his eyes and walked out of the door.

James watched his partner wordlessly leave him hanging.“Uh...see? He’s eager to solve the case already, very professional.“

Carter and Lee just smiled in amusement as James rushed out of the door after his partner.

„That guy’s definitely not human.“ Carter muttered. Lee nodded.

„His partner is, however.“

„Didn’t smell like ghoul, but definitely not a vampire. I wonder if he figured out what we are.“ Carter frowned.

„Hard to say, he seemed suspicious.“

„Let’s go, I wanna know who is their suspect.“ Carter said and they headed after the duo.

* * *

 

They followed the two detectives‘ car, observing their behavior. Ahead of them, James was leaning closer to Jonathan, who slowly leaned the other way. It looked like a failed attempt at affectionate move.

„Oh man, your guy has no heart.“ Carter laughed, slapping his knee.“You’re like a cute little panda bear when you get affectionate.“

„And you only appreciate my qualities when it’s good for you.“ Lee retorted.

Carter smiled.

„Lee, you are always good for me…This is pretty interesting though, looks like the other Carter might be trying for something his Lee isn’t up to giving. Totally nothing like what we went through when we met.“

Lee raised an eyebrow. „You handcuffed me to your car when we met.“

Carter sighed dreamily.“Good times.“

They arrived to a run down apartment building, its neighbourhood screaming of crime.

„Simon Arias, his DNA was recovered by the body. His apartment is on the fourth floor.“ Jonathan said.

The four men headed up the stairs. Before they even reached the floor they were headed to, Lee grabbed for Carter’s wrist, squeezing tightly, making his partner turn. Lee’s eyes were glowing, very risky move to go feral so close to the other two detectives, but Carter followed suit.

Very strong ghoul scent mixed with blood…and a lot of it.

„This is it.“ Jonathan informed them as soon as they reached the hall, walking over to the door.

They stood in front of the apartment with Jonathan cautiously leaning closer, listening. James stepped closer to knock but Jonathan stopped his hand.

„What?“ James asked in puzzlement.

„He knows we are here.“ Jonathan replied, nodding at the peephole. James made a quiet ‚oh‘ and stepped aside. Carter and Lee watched Jonathan with curiosity. Whatever he was, he most likely smelled the same thing as they did. The detective didn’t hesitate for long before he kicked the door down, James jumping back in startlement.

„Jesus Christ, Lee! Warning?!“ He cried out and grabbed for his gun.

„Trigger happy partner, huh?“ Carter pointed out.

„Yeah, that’s one way to put it.“ James replied with a grimace and ran in after Jonathan.

Before Carter could take off after the duo, Lee held his wrist, stopping him. Carter turned to him, puzzled. „What?“

„Keep James at safe distance, I’m going to follow Jonathan.“ Lee said with a frown.

„What’re you planning to do?“ Carter asked.

„Nothing yet, I just want to make sure if anything happens, we won’t have unwanted witnesses or worse, another victim.“ Lee replied and headed inside the apartment, Carter close behind.

Before they followed the pursuit, they went into a room where the strong smell of blood was coming from and sure enough, they found remains of a body, mostly intact. The ghoul was visibly caught off guard. Fortunately the detectives haven’t explored the apartment, too preoccupied with pursuing their suspect.

In the living room was an open window with fire escape behind it, they shared a look and headed towards it.

Lee jumped down first, landing gracefully on his feet without as much as a slight bent of his knees. As soon as Carter dropped down next to him, Lee nodded towards the alley ahead where they could see the short man trying to keep up with his partner.

„Be careful, Lee.“ Carter advised his partner.

„I will.“ Lee noted.

They shared a quick peck on the lips and parted ways.

* * *

Lee was mostly following the scent of the pursued suspect. There was no doubt that he was a ghoul, even if fairly weak one if his first instinct was to take off from humans. However, ghouls were notorious for moving fast and so Lee’s only chance was to get ahead of him. He ran down the street, the scent remaining on the block to his left, meaning the ghoul was heading the same direction.

Lee reached the end of the block before the suspect, the streets of this area were surprisingly not as crowded as one would expect for this time of the day, so he didn’t have to worry about people questioning how is it that he runs so fast.

He stood at the corner of the street, awaiting the quick moving suspect, following his scent that grew nearer, but something else was there now. Lee perked up his senses and caught another scent, nothing like the ghoul they were pursuing. All ghouls carried similar scent, sickening sweet acacia which the heavy blood type mixtures from their victims produced overtime. Ghouls being unable to process ingested blood the way vampires do, instead absorb it into their skin to keep it fresh and young, causing the odor that other creatures can easily follow upon.

However the scent that Lee followed behind the ghoul was much heavier, like sandalwood incense.

Lee kept his eyes on the opposite corner of the street and soon enough, the ghoul ran through –

Jonathan right on his tail.

Lee’s suspicion has been confirmed then, what was Jonathan then? Lee took off after the duo, keeping a close eye on the detective.

First thing that caught his eye, was Jonathan’s speed, he kept up with the ghoul effortlessly showing no signs of fatique. Once they started climbing up a building, Lee noticed the familiarity in their movements, the way they gripped at ledges and strength at which they pushed themselves up.

But Jonathan did not carry the scent of a ghoul. Lee was genuinely confused, but followed their trail. As he climbed the building after them, he thought about something.

Why would Jonathan pursue another ghoul this far if he was one himself? Even the suspect had to know by now that he’s being pursued by a supernatural being, he wouldn’t run if it was another ghoul, would he?

Before Lee even made it to the top, he could hear a scream and the familiar smell of blood filled the air, Lee’s irises glowing pale blue as instincts immediately kicked in. He pulled himself to the roof, the smell of ghoul blood growing stronger. Before him was something he unfortunately saw coming, Jonathan standing over the now deceased and decapitated suspect. The detective turned to Lee with neutral expression, unaffected by his sudden appearance on the roof.

„Can’t say I’m that surprised to see you still following me.“ Jonathan proclaimed and Lee noticed his eyes, much like his own, changed color upon smelling the blood of the ghoul, instead of his irises, blackness replaced both eyes.

So, he was a ghoul after all.

Lee didn’t see any weapon nearby, so he could only assume Jonathan did the deed barehanded.

„You knew what we are from the moment you met us, so why go through the trouble to frame and sacrifice another one of your kind-„ Lee’s gaze grew brighter with threat,“for something you’ve done yourself.“

Jonathan looked unimpressed and kicked the body at his feet.

„So what if I have? I’ve still done you a favour by killing him, ghouls are not exactly…popular amongst your kind.“ He pointed out, keeping distance between himself and Lee.

„And you think you'll be let off because you killed your own kind?“ Lee queried.

„Vampires turn kin murder into a power struggle like bunch of lions fighting over the control of pride.“ Jonathan spat in disgust.“So don’t pretend as if it‘s immoral to you.“

„I never claimed anything of the sort, merely trying to understand why would you think it's worth doing the same thing.“ Lee shot right back.

Jonathan growled, but a voice suddenly interrupted his thought and both him and Lee looked over the ledge to see both Carters reach their location.

„Did you get him?! We’re coming up!“ James shouted and headed inside the building, followed by Lee’s partner who loudly complained, trying to slow him down.

Jonathan and Lee turned their gaze at each other once more.

„So, you have two options now,“ Jonathan said,“either you and your partner let the case end here with this body,“ he pointed at the corpse at his feet,“or you’ll be laying next to it.“

„If you are so familiar with my kin, then you’d know that what you are asking for, can’t and won’t be granted.“

Jonathan shook his head in disappointment.“A regretful decision.“

Lee dodged the first attack from his opponent, Jonathan followed Lee’s move with outstanding accuracy, the ghoul’s claws now exposed and lashing out at the vampire’s head. The strike was swiftly blocked with Lee’s arm, painfully twisting the ghoul’s hand away from his face and with one forceful shove, pushing Jonathan back.

Jonathan regained his balance, black eyes burning into Lee’s with intense desire to kill, to devour, as vampire blood and flesh has always been a holy grail to the scavenging race due to it possessing supernatural qualities.

Lee’s eyes glowed, the irises nearly white as his own senses turned feral with desire to kill. Though his own claws were not as efficient as his opponent‘s, they were equally deadly. Lee charged his target this time, his body so quick a mere human eye would miss it within a blink, but Jonathan was no human and lashed out yet again, using Lee’s low guard to his advantage, the ghoul’s claws nicked Lee’s collar, cutting through the fabric like butter and causing a shallow cut to the vampire’s throat. Lee aimed for Jonathan’s unprotected side, his own claws burrying to the tips of his fingers inside the ghoul’s ribs. Jonathan growled, the dozens of razor sharp teeth reaching for the vampire’s throat in this close proximity, Lee quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting bit.

The fresh injury caused Jonathan a mere stumble regardless of its clear severity, as blood stained his white shirt with alarming speed. Not giving Jonathan any chance to recover, Lee charged again, set on eliminating his opponent for good, but Jonathan did not lose his focus and kicked Lee hard in the center of his chest, sending him flying back and crashing into the roof’s vents. Before Lee got up, Jonathan was already running at him, claws ready to slice his head off, Lee rolled out of the way and with one arm pushing against the ground, launched his body into the air and with a twist landed smootly on his feet just in time to have Jonathan lashing at his stomach, causing Lee to back up to the ledge. Before he could be pushed off, Lee jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the fall and causing Jonathan to lose his focus as he barely stopped himself from falling down himself.

* * *

 

Carter tried to stop James from reaching the duo on the roof, but the man was relentless with assisting his partner. Carter smelled the blood before they even entered the building, distinctively ghoul blood and with its thickness, there has to been a lot of it. This wasn’t good.

Halfway through the building, Carter nearly froze when he smelled something much more familiar.

Vampire blood.

Now he found himself pushing past the human to get to the roof first, Lee was in danger, his partner was hurt. Carter’s feral instincts kicked in, his eyes glowing in the dark staircase and he couldn’t have care less. He ignored the human calling out to him behind him as he practically flew up the last two floors and slammed through the roof door.

Much to his relief, Lee was not severely harmed, just the usual cuts and bruises they usually carry from a fight. His partner stood there, hovering over Jonathan who carried most of the battlewounds. Carter could see the man was in clear feral state, as well as his partner.

„Would you look at that, so you’re a ghoul after all.“ Carter grinned menacingly at the currently incapacitated ghoul. Jonathan just stared at him with neutral expression, his eyes slowly going back to normal.

Lee took a step closer to the ghoul, bloodied claws ready to finish the job, but before he could, a voice turned everybody’s attention elsewhere as James arrived to the roof, look of complete horror drawn upon his face.

„What the hell is this?!“ He cried out, eyes jumping wildly from the headless corpse, to his partner laying severely wounded on the ground and the stranger they barely just met standing above him.

Without giving it much thought, James pulled out his gun and aimed at Lee. Lee took a cautious step back, his hands at his chest’s level in calming manner.“Listen, you need to calm down-„

„I need to calm down? You need to back the fuck away from my partner before I shoot!“ James shouted back.

Carter slowly approached James in an attempt to get the gun away from him, but Jonathan took the moment of distraction to his advantage. Quickly recovering to his feral state, he attacked and Carter only turned back in time to see his partner get mauled by the ghoul, teeth sinking in the vampire’s throat as Lee cried out in pain. It was a mere second in which Jonathan bit down and to Carter’s horror, did not release the hold as he snapped his head back and a loud scream followed as Lee’s flesh was torn out violently from his throat, causing a massive blood spray.

"Lee!" Carter screamed his partner's name and with a growl, he charged the ghoul kneeling above his partner, the blood of his beloved running down the ghoul's jaw. Carter felt borderline hysterical, moving without thinking for his own safety.

_Lee._

Jonathan did not linger above his victim and already moved to meet Carter, with strength that Carter have not seen coming, he threw the vampire through the roof entrance,sending him crashing down the stairs. James was screaming in terror at the sight laid out before him, hands clutching the gun shakily as he turned it against Jonathan who now stood besides him, his eyes black and his mouth smeared with blood. Jonathan made no move to attack him even as his partner began to back away, terrified.

* * *

„I’m not going to hurt you, Carter.“ Jonathan spoke out softly, his eyes going back to normal. He wiped the blood off his face while James continued to whimper, overrun by fear.

„What,why…how could you-I’m…“ He babbled nonsensicaly, eyes turning to the bloodied body on the ground.“What are you?!“ James cried out.

„A ghoul, I think you can figure out the details about that without my help.“ Jonathan sighed.“Those people are not human either, they came here to kill me.“

„Did you kill that guy?!“James pointed at the decapitated corpse, his voice trembling.

„I had to. If you walked into that apartment first he would have killed you,“ Jonathan took a step closer to James, who only raised his gun against him again, so Jonathan remained where he was.“I don’t kill people Carter, you have to believe me, please. That man wasn't even human!“

„I-I can’t. I’m..I’m trying.“ James whispered.

Jonathan nodded in understanding.“Are you going to shoot me?“ He asked, looking at the gun.

James stared at the gun in his hands as well, surprised with how badly he was shaking.“I-I don’t know. Is he dead too?“ James looked at the bleeding body of Jonathan’s assailant.

Jonathan glanced at the vampire.

„He’s still alive.“

„Is he a ghoul too?“ James shivered.

„Vampire, so is his partner.“ Jonathan pointed out.

James’s head fell in his hands.“Oh god, I was alone with that guy….“

„He wouldn’t hurt you, they were after me.“

James looked up at Jonathan.“Were you planning to hurt me?“

„No, I was never planning to do anything, I never wanted anyone to know, I-„ Jonathan was interrupted by the sound of somebody running up the stairs. Jonathan began to back away, close to the ledge, he threw James one more look. „No matter what they tell you about me, it’s not true. I’m not a killer.“ He finished and jumped off the ledge.

James cried out his partner’s name, dropping the gun and quickly rushing to the ledge. Instead of seeing his corpse on the ground, James saw Jonathan running off and disappearing around the corner. He rested his elbows on the ledge, taking a deep breath. Then he heard a choked whimper. He turned his head to the injured vampire, with a bite to his lip, he cautiously walked over to the body.

The vampire’s partner was getting closer. He might as well take a look before he has to deal with him.

Once he got close enough, he gagged as he saw the absolutely devastating injury to the vampire‘s throat and Jonathan’s incredulous story was beginning to make sense, no human being could survive something like this. The chinese man finally opened his eyes and James could see the unnatural brightness up close. Strange, he always thought vampires had red eyes.

He stared at the vampire, clueless as what to do. Shoot him? He turned to his fallen gun. The vampire was now looking at him and his hands began to move as he tried to sit up. James began to back away, towards his gun. What if this guy was still a threat?

* * *

Lee was in absolute agony, the exposed wound causing his precious blood supply go to waste and he reached for his throat making a pathetic attempt to stop the bleeding, only to feel the liquid seep between his fingers. Where’s Carter? He heavily pushed himself up into sitting position, looking around for his partner, but instead seeing his human counterpart staring at him back.

With a gun in his hand, Lee grimly noted.

„Please, don’t. „ He pleaded, his voice weak and strained.

The man just stared at him silently, his lips in a thin line, unsure of what to do.

To Lee’s relief, the human lowered his gun, but continued to stare.

„Lee!“ The shout made the human snap around, looking confused.

Carter stood at the door, breathing hard, blood running down his face from his fall.

„Carter!“ Lee tried to call out, but his damaged vocal cords wouldn’t let him and his shout came out as a squeak, it got his partner’s attention regardless, Carter’s head snapping in his direction, the look of fear drawn all over his face. Carter ran towards him without minding his human counterpart still standing there, looking confused.

Carter fell to his knees next to Lee, eyes fixed on the gruesome injury in his throat.

„Oh god, babe…“ Carter exhaled, pain in his voice. He reached out, resting his hands on Lee’s own, still pressed against the wound. He pulled them back slightly, only to see the blood flowing freely as soon as he did so, he immediately pressed them tightly back and took off his jacket.

He moved Lee’s hands again to press the jacket against the bleeding wound. While Carter pressed against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, Lee’s bloody hand shakily reached for his face, smearing blood over his cheek, Carter gently grabbed it and pulled it away.

„I know you’re hungry, Lee. I’m sorry, babe.“ Carter said apologetically,his voice shaking, he placed Lee’s hand back against his throat to hold the jacket against it.“We gotta get you home first cause this thing ain’t sealing up.“

Lee whimpered in reply, not Carter’s favourite sound, not in this context.

"Was him at the morgue, admitted it." Lee whispered.

Carter frowned.

„His name’s Lee too?“ Carter’s attention was pulled from Lee momentarily when his counterpart spoke up, finally drawing the attention to himself. Carter glanced at him and the gun in his hand and frowned.

„Yeah and I’m Carter, I know, really odd coincidence. I know you’ve probably got a lot of questions right now and I’m more than happy to answer them, but you gotta help me get my partner out of here right now.“

James scowled, the grip on his gun tightening.

„You tried to kill my partner and you want me to help you?“ He asked firmly.

„Your partner is a human eating parasite that tried to kill my partner and would most likely do the same to you when he ran out of people at hand.“ Carter growled in response.

His counterpart took a step back.

„You’re lying, he said he doesn’t eat people!“

„Listen, you’ll either come along with us willingly or I’ll drag you along, but you are coming neverthless because you are a fucking human who just met two vampires and a ghoul, so I think you can excuse me if I don’t trust you to keep your mouth shut.“

„I have a gun if you haven’t noticed!“

„And you can keep fingerin‘ it while we are getting out of here, because bullets can’t kill me anyway. Stop being a little bitch, or I’ll just throw you off this roof and be done with it! I'm really not in the mood to argue right now!“

James looked doubtfully at the duo in front of him and sighed.

„If I come with you are you going to tell me what the hell is all this supernatural crap about?“

„Yes, we will. So you coming or what?“ Carter pressed on, carefully pulling Lee to his feet, stabilising him so he doesn't fall over.

„What about the….uh…him?“

Carter glanced at the decapitated corpse. He looked around the roof and spotted a folded tarp.

„The thing about ghouls, which is what this guy was“ Carter said as he walked over to the tarp and pulled it towards the body,“Is that once they are dead, they decompose five times faster than a normal body.“ He threw the tarp over the corpse.“So he’s gonna be nothing but a pile of bones by the evening, we’ll deal with him then.“

„He was a ghoul too?“ James exhaled in shock.

„Yes, he killed his own kin.“ Lee whispered next to him. Carter walked over to his partner and with a hand on his lower back, began to walk towards the door.

James wordlessly following them as he tried to grasp what just happened.

* * *

„Hold on, sit in the front, you don’t wanna be next to him right now.“ Carter said as he opened the backseat door of the Lancer for Lee.

James looked at him in puzzlement.

„Lee’s got killer self control around humans, but he’s kinda drained right now, so he’s gonna be trying to go for anything available.“

„Carter…“ Lee complained quietly, Carter just squeezed his lover's shoulder. _It’s fine._

„Oh. Right…I guess that makes sense.“ James shifted uncomfortably, but opened the passenger door and got in.

„Yeah, don’t take it the hard way, he’s the most harmless vampire in the world, it’s just the situation right now that kinda fucked him over.“

„He looked pretty deadly when he tried to kill Jonathan though.“ James scowled.

Carter just shrugged and got in the driver’s seat of Lee’s car.

* * *

 

„So, vampires are suddenly the good guys, is that what’s happening here?“ James asked.

Carter shook his head. „Never said we were the good guys. We just like to lay low.“

„You have a funny idea about laying low.“ James snorted.

„You wouldn’t know we were vampires, if your partner hasn’t decided to try and eat my partner.“

„He was on the ground when I got there, I don't think so.“ James replied stubbornly.

„Look, I get it. You like him, he's your partner, but the matter of fact is, that he’s a ghoul and he was the guy who sucked up insides of that body at the morgue.“

Carter noticed that this information made the detective freeze, _well guess Jonathan didn't share that little detail with you._

„People like me and Lee don’t have to hunt people down to stay…hydrated, blood bags are enough to last us a while, but Jonathan needs the entire menu. Ghouls start to rot if they don’t eat human meat…or vampire meat for that matter, happened before.“ Carter continued with a shrug.

„How do you know it was Jonathan who...uh, ate that body at the morgue?“ James asked, fidgeting in his seat awkwardly.

Carter pointed at Lee in the back.

"Because he told him."

James turned to Lee who shivered with the blood loss. James shook his head and instead focused on the scenery passing by the window.

* * *

They made their way to the penthouse where Carter guided Lee to the couch and sat him down, pulling the jacket away from his throat, examining the wound.

He scowled, as the injury didn’t heal in the slightest, in fact, it seemed like the gaping hole in Lee’s throat continued to expand. Lee was looking more and more exhausted, his blood supply already critically low.

Carter rolled up the sleeve of his shirt. He sat down next to Lee and pressed his wrist against his lover’s lips. The feral instinct kicked in and soon Carter felt the familiar sting of pain as Lee’s teeth sank into his flesh. He drank fast, the thirst so overwhelming that Carter found a fatique beginning to overtake him and so he had to push Lee away before he drank him dry.

The thirst of the injured vampire was more severe than Carter thought.

„Better?“ Carter inquired.

Lee stared blankly, but then slowly nodded.

„Let’s wrap it up and then you can lay down for a bit, see if it that helps with the healing.“ Carter said and walked over to the bathroom to pick up the medical supplies.

As soon as Carter left, James took the moment of privacy between Jonathan's assailant and himself to ask some questions.

„What did Jonathan tell you?“ He asked.

Lee looked up at the human tiredly, his eyes unfocused.

„What do you mean?“ Lee whispered in response, every word an effort to get out.

James scowled. „You weren’t fighting yet when we arrived to the building. The way your partner talks about ghouls, they don’t chat with people they want to eat.“

Lee was quiet for a moment, looking at the ground. James was impatient though, he wanted to know.

„He didn’t want to fight you, did he?“ James pressed on.

Lee sighed deeply, he just wanted to sleep. Lee's lack of cooperation only frustrated James further and he stepped closer to the vampire, who struggled to keep his eyes on him, already wavering in his sitting position, about to fall over.

„You basically attacked him, forced him into a corner!“ James hissed, his anger rising.

„We are hunters, it’s our job.“ Lee whispered, doing his best to stay focused.

„You should take a look at yourselves before you judged him. At least he wasn't walking around killing people for simply being what they are!“

„What the hell are you doing?“ Carter's shout made James jump, while Lee just blinked as his eyes moved to his angrily approaching lover. Carter shoved James away from Lee’s proximity until his knees hit a chair.“Sit the fuck down.“ He growled. James obliged, swallowing nervously. Carter turned to Lee, gently placing his hands on his partner's shoulders and noting his increasing dizziness, pushed him to lay down on his side. Lee continued to blink slowly, his consciousness losing its battle.

Carter turned to James.

„I think we need to establish some rules here,“ He said and with one swift motion, took James’s gun much to the man’s horror, tucking it under his own belt. „Rule number one, you respect the vampire, otherwise you are giving him a green light to take a bite out of you.“

„Carter...“ Lee whispered pleadingly behind him. _Stop scaring him._

 _No_ , Carter thought stubbornly, he's got to realize his place here.

„Rule number two, you stay the fuck away from my partner, if I ever see you getting in his face again,“ Carter hissed, his eyes glowing with threat,“ _I’ll kill you_.“

James found himself pressed as far back in the seat as it was physically possible, he was terrified.

„Carter, enough.“ James turned to the injured vampire whose voice changed from plea to a hiss, very pathetic sounding hiss, but his neverthless, his eyes glowing as well. Much to James’s relief, the vampire backed off, eyes turning back to their usual brown color. Carter walked over to Lee and began to patch his wound, letting James sit there in uncomfortable silence.

* * *

 

James was left sitting in the living room when Carter moved Lee upstairs. Boredom was strong enough to give him a little bit of bravery to roam around the room while Carter was busy with a phone call in the kitchen, far enough to not breathe down his neck. James explored the area, taking note of how expensive everything looked. They were well off to afford this, being a vampire probably wasn’t as bad as movies always portrayed them. Those guys had no problem walking around in the sun, hell, they probably slept at night.

When he walked over to the staircase leading to the upper level of the penthouse, a noise coming from upstairs caught his attention, he paused. At first he thought he imagined it, but soon enough he heard it again, however it was very faint. James turned to where Carter was, the vampire still very much preoccupied with his phone call. Curiosity was tugging at the back of his mind, making his body move to the first step.

Was something wrong with the injured vampire?

He began to climb the stairs slowly, afraid Carter might hear him. He still debated what the hell was he doing, so what if there was something wrong with that guy, how was it any of his business anyway ? They practically kidnapped him.

Still, he made it to the top. White hallway laid ahead of him and now he was able to recognize the noise as coughing, a very wet gagging noise. Something was definitely wrong. James looked back, Carter till nowhere in sight, he sighed, but gathered his courage and began to walk down the hall, following the sound.

He stopped in front of the bedroom door where the sound was coming from, taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open. His hand flew in front of his mouth just in time to stop him from screaming, yet he couldn't stop himself from gagging. The white bed that the vampire rested on, was covered in in large splotches of blood.The injured vampire weakly raised his head towards him, his eyes filled with tears, mouth coated with fresh blood, more covering his hands from his desperate attempts to stop throwing it up.

The bandage on his throat was completely soaked and James could see that the wound definitely grew larger as it spread down to his collarbone. The vampire opened his lips in an attempt to say something, but his eyes widened and instead of words, his mouth filled with blood, spilling from his lips uncontrollably. James backed out of the room, the vampire visibly upset at that, as he reached out to him and in his attempt to keep James from leaving, fell off the bed, hitting the ground hard. James felt panic overtake him. Carter had to hear that. He bolted, barely hearing the pained whine behind him as he ran.

Carter was already at the bottom of the stairs, phone in hand and eyes glowing.

"What are you doing up here?" The vampire growled.

"I-I-I didn't do anything, I just-I heard a sound, I only heard a sound I swear! I didn't do anything!" James babbled,  backing up the stairs as Carter rapidly approached him. James braced himself for impact, but Carter only harshly grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him along as he headed to the room his partner was in.

Oh god.

* * *

 

Carter froze upon the first look inside the bedroom and James's heart was literally in his throat with fear.

„Lee!“ The scream that tore out of the vampire's throat was something James has never heard before, the hysteria behind it making his blood run cold. Carter released James, tossing his phone aside and ran to his partner, now motionless on the ground. He gathered the limp body into his arms and gently placed Lee on the side of bed that wasn't entirely stained with blood yet.

There was no reaction and James began to think the worst as Carter started babbling his partner's name over and over, shaking him, holding his torso up, but getting no response. Until finally, he rested Lee's head against the pillow, both hands on his face as he pressed kisses against those bloodied lips. The vampire's shoulders now shook, grief overtaking him as he sobbed.

James thickly swallowed.

There was nothing he could have done, at least he didn't think there was. The bite looked deadly the first time he witnessed it, maybe vampires just couldn't recover from something like this.

The sobbing stopped.

James looked over at Carter and saw the vampire straighten up.

"This is your fault," Carter spoke out, his voice dark as he turned to James. The human began to back away as soon as he saw the bright blue eyes. Carter slowly stood up from the bed and began to move towards him, gaze burning into James's. "He was fine when I put him here and the moment I lay my eyes off of you, this."

James continued to back away until his back pressed against the wall. He shook his head, putting his hands up in defense.

"Please, I didn't do anything!" He pleaded helplessly, looking over his shoulder. Maybe he could run for it, maybe he'll get away-

"Go ahead, run. **Make it more entertaining to kill you**." Carter growled and charged at James.

The detective took his chances and bolted. Fueled adrenaline, he practically jumped down the stairs and fell hard on his shoulder, wincing but quickly recovering as he heard Carter very rapidly approaching. He ran for the door, praying that it wasn't locked otherwise he was dead. Body slamming against the door, he frantically grabbed at the handle and God had to be on his side because the door opened and James did not even collect his breath, running out of the door slamming it behind him in hopes of slowing down his pursuer.

He ran, looking over his shoulder in attempt to see how much time he gained over the vampire, only to feel a rough grab at his arm and his escape came to an end. He screamed and struggled, trying to get out of the steel grip the person had on him. He looked at his captor and saw two men, one in black suit jacket and jeans and the other in some sort of silky waistcoat and dress pants, with fedora on top of his head and scarf around his neck covering a part of his face. The taller man in the suit held him by the arm and looked at him, frowning, probably wondering what the hell was he screaming about. It was then when Carter came thundering down the hall after them.

"Let me go please, he's going to kill me!" James pleaded, struggling in the grip. The two looked at each other, then at Carter and James found himself being shoved against the suit man's companion.

"Bring him back in, I'll deal with Carter." The man in suit said, his voice deep and serious.

"No, no, don't take me back there, no!" James tried to fight, but the man's companion pulled him along effortlesly as the man in suit harshly grabbed for Carter's throat before he had the time to attack James. The vampire was hissing and growling as the man in suit dragged him behind them towards the penthouse. As soon as they were back inside, the man in suit closed and locked the door behind them one handedly, his grip still tight on Carter's throat as the vampire continued to try and get to James.

"Get a hold of yourself Carter, you've completely lost it." The man in suit growled, slamming Carter against the wall, the vampire completely ignoring him.

Meanwhile James's captor pulled him towards the stairs. "You're safe with us, Lucius isn't going to release him until he's back to normal." The man reassured him.

"Are you vampires too?" James whined, but let himself be pulled along as they climbed the stairs.

When the man turned to look at him, James saw his golden eyes, glowing from underneath the fedora. It was then, when he realized that the man was also an Asian. The man pulled his scarf off his mouth and smiled. "We are their Elders, ancient vampires, so I suppose in a way?"

They stopped in front of the room where the dead vampire still laid in the same position Carter left him in.

"So, that's why Carter's feral." The vampire said grimly and walked into the room, the waistcoat that turned out to be his coat, flowing behind him. He pulled out a knife from his pocket and cut the ruined bandage off. Clicking his tongue when he saw the damage.

James heard the struggle downstairs and feeling unsafe in the hallway, rushed into the room after the vampire. He saw the vampire tracing around the wound with his gloved finger, muttering something to himself in chinese.

"Carter thinks I killed his partner." James mumbled.

The vampire looked over at him and sighed.

"He is quick to jump into assumptions unfortunately," he removed his glove, "but this is simply what happens when older ghoul bites a young vampire. If we arrived any later than this, he would be most definitely dead by then."

"He's alive?" James exhaled in relief and surprise.

The vampire nodded, he made a cut across his palm and pressed the bleeding hand against the gaping wound on Lee's throat. "Losing blood supply just makes them catatonic, it doesn't kill them, Carter is still a young vampire, so he doesn't know this. If anything, Lee's death would be from the toxin that the ghoul left behind, once they become catatonic, they can't stop it from spreading and it kills them."

The vampire winced and James heard a sizzling sound, glancing at the hand the vampire had pressed against the wound, he saw some sort of steam coming out of it. He held his hand on the spot until the steam disappeared entirely and when he pulled back, James could see his hand was severely burned, yet the wound stayed the same.

"It didn't work?" James inquired.

"It did." The vampire replied, rolling up his sleeve and making another cut on his forearm. He pressed it against Lee's lips and James almost jumped back in surprise when Lee bit down hard. As soon as he began to drink, the wound started to slowly seal up. Before it could fully heal, the vampire pulled Lee away and covered up his arm.

"Are you with us Lee?" The vampire smiled, squeezing Lee's shoulder as he blinked to full wakefullness.

"Huo An?" Lee mumbled in confusion.

The vampire nodded and stood up, pulling dazed Lee along. "Come Lee, before Lucius ends up knocking Carter out. They've been fighting for a while now. James stay here, just in case."

"Why is Carter fighting, I'm...what happened?" Lee stumbled after Huo An. As they headed down the stairs, even Lee could now hear the commotion, the sound of glass shattering, the growling. Then Carter finally came into his line of vision.

Absolutely gone. In full feral state, fangs exposed, claws exposed, hissing and growling. He lost control. Lucius holding him pinned against the ground, both cut up from the struggle, but Carter still furiously thrashing.

"He thinks you are dead, he tried to kill your little human companion when we got here." Huo An explained. Lee just stared at his partner in silent shock. Seeing Carter like this was just...

Lucius noticed their presence.

"Carter, look!" He growled at the man struggling beneath him."Lee's fine, look you idiot!" He forced Carter's head to turn in Lee's direction.

Carter stopped struggling, eyes widening when he saw Lee walking closer. As soon as Lucius saw Carter's eyes change back to their original brown, he released him, taking a step back and Carter dazedly climbed to his feet, gaze still fixed on Lee.

"But, you were-" He stuttered, staring his partner up and down in disbelief.

"I'm okay, Carter." Lee reassured him with a soft smile. There was still alot of blood, but there was no doubt that he was very much alive. Carter stared at him with an absolutely broken expression that was too much to handle for Lee. He approached his lover and wrapped his arms around Carter's chest in a tight embrace. It took Carter a moment, but slowly his own arms wrapped around Lee, his head dropping on Lee's shoulder as he shakily exhaled.

"Let's go sit down for a bit, alright?" Lee offered softly and pulled Carter towards the living room, leaving the two Elders standing in the main hall.

Huo An walked over to Lucius, who looked at him expectantly. "I think this is the Alpha ghoul we were looking for."

Lucius's gaze fell to Huo An's burned hand and he frowned. Huo An followed his eyes and lifted his hand. "The toxin wasn't really that powerful, it just managed to spread before we got here so it took a while, it'll heal soon." He reassured. Lucius looked at him doubtfully, but nodded.

"Alright, let's see what the human has to say, An."

They headed towards the stairs, leaving Carter and Lee to recover from their traumatic ordeal in peace.

* * *

 

James was sitting in the corner of the bloody bedroom, since his phone was taken away, he didn't really have much to do besides that. He really wanted to know where Jonathan was, it's been hours, he's been hurt too...how did it even work with ghouls and injuries? He didn't know much about ghouls to be honest.

"Now that our little problem is taken care of, I believe it's about time for some proper introduction." James's head snapped towards the voice and he saw the two Elders at the door. They walked in, taking a seat on the small sofa opposite of James's chair.

"I'm Lucius" The man in suit said. "You already got familiar with Huo An I believe." He nodded towards his partner, Huo An smiling in response, he finally removed the fedora and scarf, revealing his long black hair. Less terrifying look, definitely.

"James Carter." James introduced himself, looking them over curiously.

"Yes, Carter mentioned this curiosity to us and your partner is also Lee, if I' correct?" Lucius asked.

James nodded. "Yeah, Jonathan Lee, he's the uh....ghoul that this is all happening over. How long am I going to be held here?" He inquired nervously.

Lucius leaned back against the couch, watching James intently. "Until there's guarantee that you won't say anything to unwanted ears and until your partner is found." He said.

"This again? You want to kill him too?" James huffed.

"If he gives us a reason to, then yes, but for now, we just have some questions that he knows answers to." Lucius said with a shrug.

"What questions?" James inquired.

"I don't believe you knowing is going to help us get any closer to him." Lucius said.

"It might." James tried.

Lucius smirked in amusement, but shook his head. "It really won't. However, there are things you might know already that could help us."

"Like what?"

"Like where he currently lives, since his last known address was terminated months ago and it has never been updated." Lucius said.

James bit his lip.

He couldn't tell them Jonathan was staying at Didi's place, it was bad enough the two of them got dragged into this.

"I don't know and even if I did, I doubt he'd be there, he's on the run after all." James replied, trying to keep his voice as normal as he could.

Lucius and Huo An shared a look, then Lucius frowned at James.

"If you don't know, then I have no issue with walking to your workplace and asking Captain Cole personally, I'm sure she'll know."

"Why are you so insistent on meeting up with him yourself? What's wrong with just letting me talk to him?! I doubt he's gonna be waiting for bunch of vampires to show up to have a 'chat'." James snapped.

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "You've got a lot of faith in your partner considering what his actions put you through."

"He didn't put me through anything, we were doing just fine before your henchmen showed up and tried to kill him. He said he doesn't kill people, never did." James said with a frown.

"You sound like you'd have prefered if he kept leading you on, pretending as if he's normal. Well, let me tell you something James-" Lucius said and pulled out his phone, he searched for something briefly and placed it on a small table between them. "This is what it looks like when they run out of the dead ones."

James hesitantly leaned closer, looking at the image. He grimaced when he saw a mutilated body of a young woman, he pulled away before it burned into his mind. Lucius took the phone back.

"That girl was married to her killer, he starved himself for her, by the time we found him he was at the brink of death. His wife tried to protect him from us and he ended up biting her." Lucius said grimly."She died only minutes before he did."

"What's your point?" James muttered.

"My point is that it doesn't matter what they promise you, the moment they run out of their source of food, they turn on everyone, they become feral. Just like Carter did while ago, but the difference is we were there to stop him, who is going to stop your partner?"

James remained silent.

Huo An rested his hand on Lucius's and Lucius sighed.

"I understand that this is someone you care about and want to protect," He said, running his hand through his hair," you have to acknowledge the risks that come with your decision to protect him. He's been here for only couple of months and already became desperate enough to feed on a body that is not only going to be easily found, but monitored by the police. Our men wouldn't have found him if he didn't expose himself like this. What this means, is that it's obviously not easy for him to find a body to feed on. Even ghouls who are capable of going on without food for long period of time will be affected by such a drastic change."

James looked up at Lucius.

"Now that his access to the morgue was cut off, where do you think he's going to look for food?" Lucius finished.

James put his head in his arms, exhaling deeply. "Can I have some time to think about this?"

Lucius turned to Huo An and stood up, his partner following suit.

"We'll stay here overnight, you have time until morning, otherwise we'll go to Captain Cole." Lucius said and the pair walked out of the room, leaving James alone with his thoughts.

* * *

When they returned to the living room, Carter and Lee were both already recovered well enough. Carter was trying to clean up the mess from earlier, while Lee sat on a sofa, sucking on a blood bag and reading through some documents.

"Glad to see you're doing well again, gentlemen. Unfortunately our human guest isn't up to talking anymore today, so I'm afraid we have to extend our visit." Lucius said, heading to the kitchen. He grabbed a nearby towel and placed it under the tap, wetting it. Carter walked over to him.

"How did you manage to save Lee?" He whispered. Lucius nodded towards Huo An who was talking to Lee.

"Look at his hand, that's how. Make sure you move the human to a less bloody room, otherwise he won't talk at all." Lucius replied and walked back to the living room, wiping the blood off his face as his cuts were already all healed up.

"We'll have to explain Jonathan's and James's absence at the station." Huo An told him.

"I'll take care of it," Lucius replied, still rubbing at his face, checking the towel if he got all the blood off. Huo An rolled his eyes and took the towel from him, wiping off the remaining blood.

"Why, thank you darling."

* * *

Later on that night James was moved to one of the guest bedrooms on the second floor, close to Carter and Lee's bedroom that was now all cleaned up. The human and two young vampires retired to bed, while Lucius and Huo An remained in the dimly lit living room for a while.

Lucius scrolled through his phone with a mug of hot coffee next to him. Since he found out about it, he always prefered it over the blood. While Huo An shared Lucius's feelings about blood, he never really liked coffee that much, so he sat there sipping on a herbal tea instead. He glanced at his hand and placed the cup back on the table, turning his hand around.

"It's not healing, is it?" Lucius commented beside him, putting his phone away and gently reaching out for the damaged hand.

"It's just taking a while longer, I had to feed Lee as well." Huo An sighed.

"How much did you give him, An? You said he was catatonic, you might be too weakened to heal." Lucius said with concern, gently caressing the burned digits. "Just let me heal it, it has to be hurting you."

For whatever reason, Huo An seemed upset with his inability to heal the wound himself.

"It's been like this for a while, I can't heal as fast as I used to." He whispered.

Lucius made a small cut on his palm and entwined his hand with Huo An's, watching as the damage slowly disappeared.

"That's because it's been nearly three months since you let me feed you, darling. Regular blood isn't going to be enough for you, you know that."

"You know what your blood does to me, it's not as easy when we move around so much." Huo An replied and Lucius was pretty sure he was blushing. He smiled.

"There's nothing wrong with some extra affection, it's not like anyone's going to think it's odd, we're married." As soon as the last bit of burned skin disappeared, Lucius planted a kiss on top of the healed skin. "I quite enjoy it when you lose your restrictions after you feed. Sight for sore eyes, love."

Huo An chuckled.

"Of course you like it when it's you that I end up being all over."

"Yes, that might have something to do with it. You should hear the noises you make when you-" Huo An pressed a kiss against his husband's lips, shutting him up.

 


	2. Chapter 2

„I have vampires after my head, I had to leave my partner behind with them and I have no guarantee that they won’t bite him! We didn’t agree to this.“ Jonathan hissed.

„Agree?“ His companion raised an eyebrow.“When have we ever agreed on anything? If my memory doesn’t fail me, you wanted an easy life and I offered my assistance, that was that. Provide easy access to provisions for the exchange of your services when the time calls for it.“

„You knew the body at the morgue would be uncovered before incineration, knew that Lucius’s pets would be here.“ Jonathan accused.

The companion shrugged nonchalantly.

„And so it would have been, I can’t control the human curiosity of sticking their noses into things it doesn’t belong to. You work in police force, you should have known the risk of your actions more than I could, but it doesn’t matter. It’s only to both of our benefits that Lucius is here now.“

„He has my **partner**!“

„So you’ve said, but there’s nothing to worry about.“

Jonathan stared at the man in disbelief. „Nothing? He’s a _vampire_ , those things take pleasure from toying with their prey before killing it. He might as well have killed Carter already as we speak.“

His companion barked out a laugh.

„You truly need to extend your knowledge of the enemy if you expect to live on through another century, my friend. Lucius doesn't exactly hold up his reputation with killing humans, that'd be more of your kind's forte.“

„Don’t be ridiculous.“

„You’ll understand once you come face to face with him.“

„You want me to meet him **now**? Might as well drive that knife through my chest yourself.“ Jonathan huffed, what an absurd suggestion.

The companion rolled his eyes.

„Don’t judge him depending on your experience with his people, I find it doubtful that they attacked you and your partner upon his order, merely a coincidence that it ended up the way it did. Ghoul or not, he wouldn’t risk a human life in the process if he could help it…Besides, if what I’ve been told is accurate, we might have caught him at a vulnerable time.“

That perked up Jonathan’s attention.

„What do you mean?“

His companion rubbed his  chin thoughtfuly.

„Word says he’s been wounded during one of his past scuffles with another Elder and since he doesn’t feed on fresh human blood, his powers won’t be working their full potential until he finds a replacement for his required nourishment .“

„What about his partner?“

„Lucius never feeds from him and as for his strength, he’s probably one of the weakest vampires out there, you don't have to concern yourself with him, just focus on dealing with Lucius and you'll be fine.“

„..Alright, then. I’m still not sure what do you want me to do there.“

„If you are done asking irrelevant questions, you’ll find out.“

 

* * *

 

Jonathan headed for the apartment number he was given. Checking the slip of paper once more, he exited the elevator and walked down the hall. It was a well guarded complex up to this point, Jonathan noticed the lack of security cameras on the destined floor. Perking up his senses, Jonathan noted the presence of several individuals.

The distinctive scent of an Elder hit his nostrils like a slap across the face. Unsurprising, Jonathan thought, vampires of the old had a flare for standing out of the crowd amongst other monsters as well as humankind.

Jonathan’s hand hovered over the door handle. When he felt no unwelcoming aura, it was safe to work his way in.

The lock was as complicated as expected for an expensive penthouse, but he’s been through enough desperate situations to learn the craft of breaking in. Once inside , Jonathan blinked, his vision switching to his feral one and the darkness around him disappeared, furniture and walls appearing in bright red until it faded to daylight and he could see everything.

Nice place.

He gazed at the staircase across the large living room, the already familiar scent was coming from there. Hm, interesting…it must have been the two vampires he fought earlier that day. That meant that the chinese vampire he bit, most likely survived. Jonathan mentally shrugged at that, he wasn’t intending to kill him anyway. He turned his attention to a room couple feet ahead of him.

Before he could take any action, a very distinctive scent caught his attention and Jonathan froze. He turned to the door further down the hall where the scent was coming from. Quietly, he moved away from the room with his target and made his way towards the door carrying that familiar scent. He needed to make sure, _just check on him, make sure he's safe._

As he came to rest in front of the door, the scent grew stronger and with such intensity Jonathan knew for certain that his partner was in there. _I don't smell blood._ He swallowed, his hand twitching, the urge to reach for the door strong. _I could just grab him and leave, make up some excuses, tell him…_

The thought was tempting, just forget the vampire feud, let them go to hell and leave him and Carter out of it. He never wanted to be involved in this in the first place.

„Looking for your friend?“

Jonathan nearly jumped in surprise at the voice behind him, he twisted around to see face to face with none other but the Elder himself, arms resting across his bare chest.

Before Jonathan could utter any response, the Elder took a step closer and Jonathan felt a pang of worry, his eyes darting to nearest escape route.

„You look frightened for someone so fierce that he nearly killed one of my best men.“ Lucius continued, moving closer. Jonathan found himself taking a step back, only to find that he could move no further as his back hit a wall.

„Have you come here in an attempt to rescue your human friend or am I giving you too much credit?“

Jonathan just stared at him, not willing to submit to the intimidation.

Lucius stared him up and down, strengthening the ghoul’s discomfort, but not breaking his spirit, not yet. The Elder definitely radiated with intimidation, even with the lack of any threatening factors, the guy wasn’t armed, nor feral, but still, Jonathan felt caution was necessary. „I didn’t come here to threaten you or your kin.“ Jonathan replied, keeping his voice steady.

Lucius said nothing, just watching the ghoul in silence, so Jonathan continued.

„I don’t know how much you’ve been told about me from my partner, but I don’t kill humans, I’m sorry about what happened to your ally, but I was simply defending myself, they were going to kill me.“

The Elder hmmed in response.

„I didn’t have the time to be fully informed about the incident between the two of you, but your intent definitely seemed to be to kill, even knowing that your partner was going to witness your doing. You can’t fault me for finding it difficult to be compassionate with your situation.“

Jonathan felt his fear disolve into icy resentment.

„Compassion?“

Lucius seemed unimpressed.

„You’d rather have me take your life right here right now without giving it a second thought? After your friend put so much effort into protecting you? That would be a shame, wouldn't it."

Jonathan bit his cheek. Don't let him provoke you, he just wants an opportunity to strike.

"No, I don't want that." He replied.

"Good," Lucius said with probably the least genuine smile Jonathan has ever seen.

"Can't you just...let him go?" He tried. It was a stupid request. Of course they won't let Carter go.

Jonathan saw Lucius open his mouth in response, but before he could hear any words, he felt icy coldness overcome his entire body, sending his consciousness into oblivion, but not before a bright white light swimmed through the air in front of his eyes.

_What is that?_

* * *

 

Lee bolted upright in his bed,  the motion nearly shoving Carter off the bed and awaking the vampire with a start. „The hell Lee, it’s too early…“ he grumbled. His partner ignored him, tossing the blankets in his face as he quickly got out of bed. Carter tugged the sheet off his head, blinking in confusion.

„Lee?“

Carter was met with a very distinctive look. Lee’s usually dark irises now bright and glowing in the darkness. „Calm down,babe.“ Carter moved out of the bed carefully, approaching his partner. „Nobody’s tryin‘ to hurt you.“ He reached for Lee’s hand and pulled him closer. The vampire tensed up at the contact.

„Are you with me Lee?“ Carter asked, concern tingling in his voice.

 For Lee to go feral out of combat was unheard of, Carter was worried.

Keeping his partner pressed against his body as a form of comfort, Carter heightened his own senses trying to figure out what caused Lee’s state. The familiar scent hit him almost instantly and he frowned.

„How the hell did the guy get in here?“ Carter’s own alarm bells going off, he pushed Lee towards the bed, forcing his partner to sit down, Lee glared at him but didn’t fight back.

Carter didn’t have time to question Lee’s unusual behavior, he needed to check on the others. Praying that Lee’s dazed state leaves him where he is, he left the bedroom, closing the door behind him and rushed downstairs.

He couldn’t grasp how would the ghoul access the building, let alone get inside the apartment without him noticing. Once he jumped down the last step and turned the corner, his eyes widened in surprise.

There was the ghoul, but instead of sneaking around like Carter thought he’d be, he was sprawled on the ground, unwounded but unconscious as well. Both Elders standing over him and carrying on a quiet conversation.

„Go get Lee, Carter.“ Lucius raised his eyes towards the surprised vampire.

„He went feral.“ Carter replied without meeting the Elder’s look.

„Feral?“ Lucius raised an eyebrow, but it quickly changed to understanding, „ah right, he’s been almost killed by this man..“ He trailed off, reaching for the ghoul’s limp arm and effortlesly hauling him to the sofa, dropping him without grace.

„Is he having some sort of a panic attack?“ Carter inquired.

„Might be, I haven’t seen a situation where a vampire would have another encounter with a ghoul who bit him and in the case of Jonathan over here, Alpha one at that.“ Huo An replied instead, walking over to the ghoul and going through his jacket. „But I think it might be more of a shock than anything since he’s not running in here claws out. I could go look at him, but I think he’ll recover on his own.“

Carter glared at the ghoul in question.

„Shit man, I can’t believe he just walked in here. Alpha or not, there’s four of us, no way he didn’t know that.“

„I’ve seen dumber.“ Lucius shrugged. "Go back upstairs, we'll deal with this in the morning."

Carter shared a look with Huo An who nodded. _Just do it._

 

* * *

 

„He’s not armed.“ Huo An stated after a moment, fixing the ghoul’s attire back in place.

Lucius checked on the human who slept through the whole ordeal.

Unsurprising.

They laced his dinner with sleeping pills. Thank god for that.

Lucius made sure the door was locked before walking over to Jonathan and kneeling in front of him. He was still out cold.

„I don’t care how much admiration he has for his pet human,“ he said lowly,“ there’s more to it.“

„What makes you say that?“ Huo An sighed and sat down on a nearby chair.

„First I get a call that Tiberius is in America, not long after we got here. Then out of nowhere, a swarm of hostile supernaturals trailing from New York – where we’ve originally planned to be for our stay here – all the way to L.A, coincidentally the same place Carter and Lee wanted to go to on their time off.“ Huo An watched him with mild amusement as he paced back and forth in almost comical way with his irritation rising. „And then as soon as we have nobody available, long behold, Alpha ghoul shows up. We haven’t seen one in what? Centuries? And where does he lead us? To L.A once again.“

„Are you suggesting the Elder somehow manipulated the Alpha to bring you to him?“

„I’m not suggesting anything, that’s exactly what’s happening here, don’t tell me you aren’t seeing the pattern here, An.“ Lucius said, sounding almost offended at Huo An’s doubtfullness.

Huo An shook his head. „I’m not dismissing your concern, I want to merely point out that the only reason we were both alerted by his presence as quickly as we were is because he let his guard down immensely for the sake of his partner. Doesn’t that seem out of character for his kind?“

Lucius sighed.

„Pity the fool who wants you dead.“

Huo An smiled. „Wouldn’t be the first time.“

 

* * *

 

Carter entered the bedroom with caution, noticing the lone figure moved from his original position on the bed, now standing by the window.

„Lee? Are you feeling better?“ Carter closed the door behind him, walking up to his partner.

Unsure of just how aware Lee was of what was going on, he stayed back a little, giving him some room. The stress hung heavy in the room while both vampires stood in momentary silence.

Carter realized how traumatic it must have been for Lee to sense the ghoul’s presence after what happened, since his own little breakdown he was honestly surprised he didn’t go feral either. Their friends seemingly had everything under control and everyone would undoubtedly be present at the next morning’s interrogation, but that didn’t help the unease he felt at the ghoul’s presence, his scent lingered, even if weakened, but it did.

Lee’s silence was a sign that he wasn’t doing so well either. Carter took the gamble and reached out to him, his hands lightly resting on his partner’s arms, nudging him to turn around. Dark eyes met his.

„I wish I had killed him, Carter.“


	3. Chapter 3

Jonathan jolted awake. The darkness he remembered last time was now replaced with bright light, making his eyes hurt. He turned to move away from the offensive source of warmth only to realize that his movement was unexpectedly restricted.

One thing he gathered for sure, this wasn’t the same place he lost his consciousness at. Amongst the different scents assaulting his senses, he no longer felt the presence of his partner. He did feel one that was just as familiar.

„You are one suicidal motherfucker you know that?“

Jonathan’s blurry vision took in the form of his partner’s counterpart, though there was hardly anything that would show any resemblance. The vampire stared at him from the opposite side of the room. Hands shoved in his pockets making him look like some snotty teenager instead of decades old vampire. Jonathan felt confident he could just snap his neck, were he free to do so. Instead, he stared the vampire down right back.

When he got a click of the tongue in response, Jonathan found another distinction from his Carter. The vampire approached him slowly, coming to a stop just inches from his face, he knelt down, now at Jonathan’s eye level.

Eyes are the window to the soul.

_No wonder I see nothing in yours._

„You look like you got plenty to say.“ The vampire said.

He wasn’t wrong, Jonathan had plenty of questions.Where’s his partner, where is **he**? More importantly, where’s the one deciding their fate?

„I won’t talk to anyone but Lucius.“ He replied bluntly.

That clearly wasn’t what Carter wanted to hear, but Jonathan could care less about what the vampire wanted or not. If he was to spill any information, it wasn’t going to be the henchman to hear it and misquote it later on.

Carter frowned and Jonathan could tell from the way he was biting the inside of his cheek, he wanted to say something stingy, but he wasn’t given the opportunity because now, Jonathan sensed someone else in the room.

„Carter, go have a rest, I’ll look after our guest.“

Carter turned to the other person, probably to share some form of mute disapproval, but the man ignored it and stepped aside from the door, queue for Carter to get a move on.

With a curse under his breath, Carter got up, threw one last glance at Jonathan and left the room letting the other man close the door behind him.

„My name’s Huo An, since we didn’t have the opportunity to properly introduce to one another.“ The man said calmly.

There was a moment of silence between them, Jonathan taking the opportunity to observe his captor.

Asian man, long hair, elegance beyond every step, the Elder’s scent heavily imprinted on his person, but his own was lacking.

„You are Lucius’s partner.“ Jonathan stated.

The man smiled. „He’s my husband, yes.“

„Husband?“ Jonathan raised an eyebrow in surprise.“I wasn’t aware that vampires would get into commitment, your kind isn’t known for sticking to one entertainment for long.“

„I believe we share the same traits then, Jonathan.“

„Is that why I’m still alive?“

Huo An nodded, his calm demeanor still strong. It was frankly unsettling to Jonathan.

„I think we should have a talk.“

„I already said I won’t talk to anyone but Lucius.“

„He’s not here.“

„Then I’ll wait until he gets back.“

 Huo An leaned against a wall, keeping his distance from Jonathan. He said no more. Just watched. Jonathan traced every vampire’s scent that he came across so far. Both counterparts of him and Carter, Lucius, his contact..

The only scent that he was catching from Huo An, was of Lucius. It was as if he didn’t have his own, which was ridiculous. Everybody has a scent, humans, vampires, ghouls, no exceptions.

Huo An caught him staring and followed his eyes down his own torso. „What is it?“

„Is it an Elder thing?“

Huo An blinked in confusion.“That doesn’t make it any easier for me to answer you.“

„You don’t smell.“

„Shower does that.“

Jonathan huffed in frustration. „That’s not what I mean.“

„I don’t know what you mean.“ Huo An shrugged, but the the smile tugging at his lips didn’t escape Jonathan, making him further frustrated.

„You know exactly what I mean, you just don’t want to tell me.“

„I can’t tell you anything because you won’t talk to anyone except Lucius. Isn’t that what you said?“

„I’m really starting to get tired of vampires in general.“

Huo An looked at him in sympathy and walked closer.

„It sounds like you’ve had your fair share of encounters with them.“

Jonathan said nothing.

„Your partner was very defensive when we asked him about you.“ Huo An continued, perking up Jonathan’s attention. „He’s safe, but I hope you understand that we can’t simply let him go back. For both yours and ours anonymity. As sorry as I am about the unfortunate encounter between you and our people, there’s blame on both parties and we should take mutual responsibility for it.“

When Jonathan flashed angry look at Huo An, the vampire shook his head. „Don’t misunderstand, I’m sure the fight would have been avoided if Carter and Lee didn’t pursue you, but – It wasn’t just us who were notified of your actions at the police morgue. In a sense, you’re fortunate that it’s been us who took the action first before anyone else.“

„Are you saying I’m in a better situation now?“

Huo An nodded in complete seriousness. „Yes, you are.“

Jonathan must have looked doubtful, because Huo An reached for his binds and worked on undoing them.

When he was free, Jonathan looked at Huo An in confusion. „You realize how risky is this for you?“

„It's only a risk for me if it is for you as well.“ Huo An said softly. "You have to know what's it worth to leave through that door right now, or stay."

Jonathan glanced at the door and back at Huo An.

 

* * *

 

Carter headed for the living room, when he noticed Lee sitting on the couch and staring at nothing, he walked over and sat down next to him, throwing his arm over Lee’s shoulder. „All good?“

Lee nodded wearily, tossing his phone on the table.

„Alright, not good then.“ Carter sighed. „You sure you’re up to dealing with that guy at all?“

„What is that supposed to mean?“ Lee snapped.

„You went feral, babe. Do you know how many times you lost control? Not a whole lot.“

Lee pulled away and stood up. Carter rolled his eyes. „Nobody’s judging you for it, Lee. I’m just sayin‘ we should probably keep our distance from the guy, for both of our sakes. He wants us as much alive as we want him.“

„I don’t plan on losing control anytime soon.“ Lee argued. „Besides, who do you think is going to take responsibility for the two of them? The human is already losing his mind from being moved around against his will and now there’s Alpha ghoul locked up in the guest room. Lucius’s away dealing with alternative arrangements and Huo An can’t babysit them forever.“

„He wants to move them already?“

Lee nodded. „We have to, the ghoul’s presence is attracting unwanted attention. The place is going to be swarmed with ghouls in couple hours if we don’t get out of here.“

„How the hell did he get his friends together so fast?“

Lee shook his head.

„Lucius suspects that they want to kill him actually.“

That took Carter by surprise. „Kill him? He’s the top guy, equivalent of our Elders, at least that’s how it worked last time I checked.“

„I’m guessing it’s got something to do with his human companion. Being friendly with your food doesn’t usually sit well with the rest of your kin.“

„Considering how far up in his ass that James guy is, I’m starting to think there’s more to it.“ Carter snorted.

„I think that’s a bit of a far stretch, ghouls don’t have a soul, never did, at least that’s what’s been going around until now. They shouldn’t be capable of having any emotions besides their basic instincts. That’s what makes it so easy for us to pick them out, they don’t know how to act ‚normal‘ „

„Yeah, but we didn’t know he was one until he pulled a fast one on us, Lee.“ Carter noted.

„I honestly don’t care, he’s as good as dead to me, let Lucius decide what he wants to do with him, but I’m not going to be the one offering the benefit of the doubt for his sake.“

„If it were up to me, I’d just dump his ass down some alley and let his friends do whatever they want with him, turn him into a pinata – haven’t you always wondered what’s actually inside them?“

Lee cringed at that statement. „Carter, you are disgusting.“

„What? They don’t have insides right? So what’s keeping them going, why didn’t we ever do an autopsy- Lee, where you goin‘“

„Getting the human ready for the move,“ Lee called out from the door,“go tell Huo An, Lucius said he’s going to know what to do.“

The door slammed shut behind his partner and Carter sighed, kicking at a nearby chair.

„Prick. Deep inside he’s been asking the same questions.“


	4. Chapter 4

Lucius watched a small group of people sharing a quiet conversation at the corner of a street. Already on his way back to the apartment to assist with the move of their captives, he couldn’t help but notice a presence of several ghouls closing in on the location as well.

He has been informed that Jonathan was attracting more attention than they would have liked, but this was quicker than the anticipated. He tapped on the steering wheel, brow furrowed. When his car started moving again, he spotted another ghoul just few blocks further down.

They were closing in fast, it was time to move.

-

Arriving at the apartment complex, Lucius wasted no time, leaving his car in the front, he rushed to the elevator.

As soon as he got to the apartment’s floor, much to his relief, Lee was just pushing James through the door, Carter closing it behind them.

„We have to speed this up,“ he called out after the group, all of them turning to look at him.“A bit of a traffic jam is coming our way.“

The trio rushed over to him.

„Where’s Huo An? Why isn’t he with you?“ Lucius asked as soon as they were all in the elevator.

„Huo An already headed downstair with…our friend“ Carter glanced at James,“They weren’t in the lobby?“

Lucius cursed under his breath and pulled out his phone, quickly dialing a number.

-

**Earlier**

„Before I tell you anything, I want to know what are you planning to do with my partner after all this. You stand strongly on our mutual interest in the safety of our partners, but I want a solid answer.“ Jonathan said.

„Why do you exclude yourself from his association? Do you think we wouldn’t let you go?“ Huo An queried curiously, taking a seat across from Jonathan, neatly straightening his coat over his lap.

_He seems so harmless._

„Why would Lucius let me go? Isn’t my origin enough of a reason? You are the only one who isn’t eager to rip my head off, even if you were in my favor, I doubt the others would agree.“

„How Carter and Lee feel about you is irrelevant to either mine or Lucius’s decisions. Even if both of your actions were just your natural behavior-„

 „I tried to reason with Lee,“ It was the first time Jonathan was willing to mention his name,“I didn’t want to fight, neither did I try to kill him. I had to bite him otherwise he would have killed me. Do you think I would have let them get this far to corner me if I wanted them dead? I knew they were vampires from the moment they stepped through the door the first time.“

_Why am I telling him this?_

„What were you going to do if they haven’t  found out your origin? They said that it took them a while to notice, they weren’t suspecting you.“ Huo An’s eyes were almost uncomfortably fixed on his own.

„I was going to bring their attention elsewhere, I didn’t want them around my partner or my friends.“ He replied, his fists unconsciously clenching and uncleching in his lap.

Jonathan could have sworn he saw Huo An’s lips quirk in a barely noticeable smile at that notion, but his eyes did not leave his own.

„What if it was me and Lucius who had found you first?“ Huo An crossed his legs casually.

„Why would you be looking for me?“ Jonathan asked with a frown.

„Jonathan, don’t tell me you don’t realize just how rare your situation is.“

Jonathan bit the inside of his cheek.

„By ‚situation‘ you mean me having a human companion.“

Huo An nodded.

„You know, curiously enough, our Carter was human too when he met Lee.“

Jonathan raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

„I just thought it was interesting,“ Huo An continued,“ supernaturals very rarely bond with humans, I always thought it says a lot about their character.“

„I don’t imagine it’s anything good if they end up turning them in the end and I don’t intend to do that – ever.“ Jonathan internally shrugged at the thought of ghoul Carter.

_It’s bad with food for me, let alone that black hole of a man._

Huo An’s chuckle snapped him out of his thoughts.

„I don’t believe Lee planned to do so, while vampires can feed a dying human without turning him, there’s only so much they can fix and the condition Carter was in would prevent him from leading any kind of normal life. He adjusted surprisingly quickly.“

There was a moment of silence before Huo An broke it again.

„It wasn’t Lucius’s decision to search for you, but mine.“

Jonathan looked at him, surprised.

„I was not putting any high hopes into cooperation from you, but the more I witness your actions, the more I wonder.“

„Is this supposed to be favor for a favor or am I getting enslaved again? Because neither options will get a yes from me.“ Jonathan replied dryly.

Huo An shook his head.

„I think you should know by now that we are nothing like Tiberius. Besides,I don’t want you to kill anyone for me,“ he sighed.

„Here I thought I was going to be interrogated and instead another deal. What do you even want?“

„My husband has been hurt during an unprovoked fight from another Elder.“ Huo An said seriously.

„I’ve heard something about that.“ Jonathan noted.

„I’d be surprised if you didn’t, Tiberius most definitely knows.“

„Undoubtedly. So, what’s wrong with him?“

„His demon form is declining more rapidly than he can heal it. Most likely internal injuries.“

„Alright and I’m part of this how?“

Huo An sighed.

„Nearly two thousand years ago first signs of low game and increasing competition forced the Northern Elders build a unique chamber for their complicated feeding habbits. It’s said to hold a Jotun – immortal giant of the Norse, who would supply any Elder in need with it’s life essence as it never runs dry.“

„That honestly sounds beyond absurd, but go on.“

Huo An smiled. „Lucius said the same thing and he was born before it was even said to be built. Curiously, neither of us have ever considered actually taking a look at its authenticity, but at the time we first heard about it, the North was heavily controlled by Draugr, much more feral and brutal version of a vampire, they were one of the most hostile tribes at the time that not even Lucius wanted to confront them. Much stronger than your average Elder, thus they required more complicated feed source.“

„That sounds pretty convenient solution for your partner’s demon problem.“ Jonathan noted.

„It does,“ Huo An said,“but because we never took the chance to examine the chamber when we had the opportunity, it’s been hidden and sealed by its guardians. I only have the vague location and even then it is said to be blocking out vampire senses, so we wouldn’t find it by scent nor sight.“

„So you want me to locate the giant by his life essence? How do you know that it’s not blocked as well?“

„Because there were no ghouls in the North when it was built, there was no reason to prevent another race from entering when it was not a threat.The only competition for Draugr were other vampires, because Jotun was said to not only heal any wounds, but empower anyone who’d feed on it. It was the last creature of its kind. If anyone else got to it, it would be a risk to Draugr and their territory.“

„What kind of powers was it supposed to give if anyone had fed on it?“ Jonathan asked curiously.

„I imagine it drastically enhanced powers of anyone who already wasn’t as strong as the Draugr. If you are thinking what it could do to you, well, there’s no record of any ghouls actually feeding on a giant, but it’s fair to assume you wouldn’t have to look for another meal for several hundreds years after that. I can’t guarantee you that it would be safe for you though, like I said, no record of a ghoul ever doing something like that.“

„No record of anyone besides Draugr, doesn’t mean it would be safe for Lucius either.“

„There’s a certain risk, but we have no other options.“ Huo An said. „If there are, they are as dangerous as this one, no less.“ He added lowly.

Jonathan rubbed his face and sighed.

„So what are you offering me if I help you find this thing, because this sounds way bigger than just letting me and my partner off the hook.“

Huo An smiled.

„You become our ally.“

„That’s great but-„ Jonathan started, but Huo An continued.

„Which means we can provide you with all the necessities you need to lead the normal life you wanted.“

Jonathan frowned. „Those are rather big promises Huo An, even for an Elder.“

Huo An leaned in, his eyes glowing. „I don’t require any titles behind my oaths. Whether that’s enough for you, is not up to me. I’m not forcing you into doing this, it would be a mutual risk for the both of us, I already decided it would be worth it for me, but is it worth it to you?“

Jonathan bit his lip and his eyes fell to the ground.

_I don’t know._

He knew that, but the words wouldn’t leave his lips. Would he really risk so much to have a somewhat regular human existence?

_You coward._

 

* * *

 

 

„Hey An?“ Carter’s voice called out from the door. Both men looked up.“Lucius called, we gotta go, apparently our friend’s surprise visit stirred up some activity in the city.“

Jonathan turned to share a look with Huo An. Their eyes in an intense gaze.

Now or never, huh?

Jonathan stood up. Huo An’s eyes following him silently.

„Knowing my kind, we better get going before our scent lingers for too long.“ Jonathan said.

Huo An smiled and stood up.

„Let’s go.“

Carter observed the silent conversation with a puzzled look. Glancing down at the missing binds, he stepped in the way.

„Are you sure this is safe, An?“ He glared at the ghoul’s hands, Jonathan throwing the glare right back. Huo An stepped in and pushed Carter back.

„I appreciate your caution, but it’s not necessary. Jonathan is helping us.“

„Wait what?“ Carter stuttered.“He literally tried to kill you couple hours ago, when did this happen?“

„We found common ground, let’s leave it at that.“ Huo An said firmly, indicating the end of the topic, only for it to be ignored by Carter.

„You know Lucius is not gonna be happy when he hears about this, right?“ Carter muttered, eyeing Jonathan who looked beyond unimpressed.

Huo An slowly turned to look at him.

„I’m sad to hear that,“ he said so seriously that Carter wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic or for real, but then the Elder was pushing past him with the ghoul slowly following him behind, his lips quirking in an arrogant smirk.

„Prick.“ Carter muttered under his breath.

* * *

 

Huo An led Jonathan straight to the elevator, not waiting for the others. While they waited to reach the bottom floor, Jonathan addressed an issue that bothered him about this whole deal.

„How long is this supposed to take? While I can excuse my absence at work by just making up a case back at home, I doubt they’d just let go of Carter like that. He’s one of the head detectives, not to mention we both disappeared at the same time. Where are you even going to put him?“

Huo An pulled out his phone, typing away on the screen.

„Lucius already took care of your and your partner’s temporary absence. Once our Carter and Lee told us about what happened, it was our number one priority.“

„So what now, he’s coming with us to – where are we even going?“

„Finland.“

„So he’s coming with us to Finland? That’s a bad idea.“

„Would you rather have him stay here when there are ghouls across the city and possibly more trying to hunt you down?“ Huo An raised an eyebrow without looking up.

Jonathan sighed.

„Don’t worry, he’ll be safe with Carter and Lee. They never got anyone we assigned them to protect killed.“

„I hear a „yet“ in that sentence.“

„You hear it there because you want to hear it, not because it has to be there.“

„You can’t fault me for being paranoid after everything I’ve been through.“ Jonathan argued.

„Being paranoid all the time is going to stick to your face, look in the mirror, it’s already beginning.“

Jonathan looked at the elevator mirror and back at Huo An, his frown deepening in disbelief.“ Really?“

Huo An patted him comfortingly on the shoulder.

„It’s only going to get worse when Carter actually gets comfortable around you.“

When they reached the bottom floor, Jonathan found himself looking back.

„Something wrong?“ Huo An said while putting his phone away.

„No, I just thought after we made a deal you’d let me see my partner.“ Jonathan replied with mild regret in his voice.

„With the current threat it’s better to keep you two apart.  With Tiberius watching there’s no knowing what he’d be willing to do to cover his tracks.“ Huo An reasoned.“To  you or your partner.“

Without further comment, Jonathan followed the Elder outside. The lobby was already getting crowded with people heading to work, under any other circumstances he’d welcome the cover of people, but in this case with the threat of getting jumped, it wasn’t worth the risk.

Huo An led them towards the reserved parking spots, where Lucius should be pulling up soon, he imagined. Lucius, who by the way still didn’t know anything about their little agreement, Jonathan frankly doubted that the Elder had anything other than resentment for it.

He couldn’t fault him for that, he knew that his intentions weren’t anywhere close to being crystal clear. The warming attitude he was getting from Huo An was still suspicious to him and he wasn’t going to just lay back and relax because they were ‚allies‘ now. He knew nothing about the vampire and his motivations just screamed of backstabbing once he got what he wanted. Better be cautious.

* * *

 

While walking towards the designated spot, Jonathan’s senses started to flare up. The smell of herbs was suddenly nauseating and he knew that could only mean one thing. Jonathan’s eyes flashed through their surroundings, meeting with many looks from passerby people.

_They all look the same._

That thought struck worry in his mind, he wasn’t able to focus properly, whatever the vampires did to him last night, affected his abilities. He cursed.

Jonathan felt Huo An’s attention shift to him.

„Something wrong?“

He showed no sense of urgency, Jonathan found that very odd. Vampires had just as good abilities at scenting the enemy as he did.

„Don’t you smell anything?“ He asked bluntly.

Huo An raised an eyebrow, but slowly looked around. Well, maybe he can’t smell them, but he sees them.

But no, after a short look around, the vampire just turned back to him and shook his head.“Nothing out of ordinary, what do you smell?“

_I don’t know if he’s lying to me or there’s something wrong with him._

„Either large number of ghouls, or one that’s very close.“ Jonathan replied. How can you not spot this.

When the vampire looked genuinely surprised and suddenly alarmed, the thought that he might be faking it, dissipated rather quick.

„That’s not good, Lucius isn’t going to be here for another five minutes.“ Huo An said with worry, looking around blindly as if he could just spot the ghoul or ghouls by a bare eye.

If they see Carter and smell the vampires, they’ll realize he knows about us. They could target him.

„We have to lure them away. We can’t stay here when there’s so many people.“ Jonathan said finally and grabbed at Huo An’s arm, pulling him away.

„They won’t attack in this crowd, if we leave they’ll atack us without a second thought, I don’t think that’s going to help us.“ Huo An said, but his body moved along.

„Oh trust me, crowded areas never stopped them before, especially if they work in groups.“ Jonathan replied, eyes still darting around their surrounding, desperate to spot the threat that lingered on his senses so intensely.

* * *

 

They walked at quick pace down the street, the crowd slowly thinning around them, making it a bit easier for Jonathan to pick out suspicious individuals. The strong herbal scent only meant that they were definitely following them and fairly closely.

Beside Jonathan, Huo An did little to help besides just looking around every now and then, but not saying anything. It was starting to get frustrating.

„How are you not able to sense anything? You are an Elder for heaven’s sake.“ Jonathan complained.

For once, Huo An said nothing in his defense besides just looking ahead nervously. Jonathan groaned in frustration.

„What did I get myself into…I could just ditch you here and let them kill you, I hope you’re aware of that.“

Huo An threw him a look of hurt.

„I doubt you’d get very far on your own, besides, I’m doing my best to keep them off of us.“ He said.

„You are literally doing **nothing**!“ Jonathan cried out.

„Paint a target on your forehead when you are done shouting would you?“ Huo An snapped.“Why do you think they haven’t attacked yet? They can’t smell us.“

That gave Jonathan a pause.

_„Is it an Elder thing? You don’t smell.“_

As absurd as it sounded, that’s exactly what seemed to be happening. While the ghoul scent was strong around them, that’s all it was, nobody tried to attack them or approach them as if they really didn’t know whether they were following the right target.

„How long are you going to be able to keep, whatever it is you are doing, up? Or is it something you do indefinitely? That’s why you have no scent?“ Jonathan asked, keeping his swift pace up.

„I never had a scent, I just always copied whichever species was available at the moment – in this case human. I can do it indefinitely on myself, but covering your scent is much more difficult, yes. Especially because you are an Alpha, your scent is very strong by default.“ Huo An explained.“So we have around ten more minutes before it’s going to be a problem.“

„It wouldn’t be a problem if my abilities worked properly, I can’t spot them with just scent. I entirely blame that on you and Lucius.“

„Lucius had nothing to do with that, he was only distracting you. Look at it this way, the powers drained from you are what’s keeping you safe right now, so it’s not entirely a loss.“

„You did **WHAT**?“ Just as Jonathan said that, a shot rang out and created a bullethole in a wall next to them. Neither waited for second shot and took off.

„Don’t tell me you seriously believed I’d just untie you when you are at full strength, that’s borderline suicidal!“ Huo An shouted while they ran.

„Covering scent, draining powers, I hate to break it to you, but vampires don’t do that.“ Jonathan shouted back.

They rounded a corner to a small secluded street.

„That wasn’t ten minutes, that was barely two.“ Jonathan complained while he scanned the area, but the ghoul scent grew weaker, so at least they drew some distance.

„They didn’t recognize us by scent, the barrier is still up, it was someone who had seen you before most likely.“ Huo An said, brushing off stray strands of hair out of his face.

„Well, we better keep going, hopefully your friends got my partner out of there by now.“

Huo An pulled out his phone.

„Only five missed calls, that’s not as bad as I thought it would be after we took off.“

„From Lucius? Carter calls that much when he thinks I’m dead.“

„Really? Maybe he just trusts your ability to take care of yourself.“ Huo An smiled.

„I was indicating that it’s too many calls.“

„Oh! Well…it’s only natural to worry about your loved one.“

That gave Jonathan a pause, but he decided not to push it. Sure, he was unusually emotionally attached to Carter, but love?

* * *

 

They decided to keep walking, the ghoul scent still lingering as their enemies continued to search the streets around them, but still at a moderate distance.

Jonathan stared at Huo An from time to time, his mind buzzing with questions. So many things about this guy made no sense, biologically and psychologically when it comes to vampires. He had a suspicion.

„How come that Tiberius didn’t know anything about you if you are an Elder? That’s what the title comes with, recognition. Yet, you have none.“ He asked suddenly.

Huo An blinked at him, surprised.

He hesitated before he replied.

„Most Elders received their title by the amount of wars they fought in, the rate of slain enemies. I haven’t been part of any.“

„Then how are you an Elder? Did it just come along with the bond with your husband? Is that how it works amongst vampires?“ Jonathan inquired.

„No, theoretically I wouldn’t have been allowed to be romantically involved with another Elder unless I was one myself. I’ve just done things for Lucius’s clan so that his own Elders accepted me as one of them. The title came as soon as Lucius took over his clan after the Elders died.“ Huo An explained.

Jonathan nodded in understanding.

„You have very strange abilities for a vampire, has anyone told you that?“

Huo An smiled.

„This has been bothering you all morning, hasn’t it.“

„If vampires started to suddenly develop new abilities while I wasn’t looking then yeah, that is a bit bothersome to me.“

„You have nothing to worry about, they are very much the same.“

„You keep excluding yourself from your kin a lot.“

Jonathan stepped in front of Huo An, halting their walk.

„If we are going to be putting trust in one another for this mission of yours, you might as well start with some honesty.“

„I’m not lying to you about anything.“ Huo An said frankly.

„Then why won’t you admit that you are **not** a vampire?“ Jonathan hissed.

 


End file.
